[chaosfactor]

I have theorized that allergies, such as cat allergies, may, in some cases, be your body's way of warning you that there are Big Cats in the vicinity and you should GTFO.

[possibilistic]

This is not how Type I hypersensitivity works. Epitope recognition is powered by a biological RNG (somatic hypermutation) and evolves at runtime via the process of somatic / V(D)J chain recombination. Your body learns to be allergic, perhaps due to a bad ashy vent (you got sick that one spring), under-stimulation (play outside!), or just plain bad luck. Unfortunately for all of us, the immune system has no concept of the innocuous nature of harmless antigens. It will continue to pick up bad habits until the day we die. But thankfully it also keeps the trillions of cells, leaky programming, our own broken and errant self, and other uninvited guests that would just as soon eat us at bay (bacteria, viruses, cancer, fungi, nematodes, ...).

[chaosfactor]

Did you just say that allergies are never genetic?

[saraid216]

Loudly sneezing, blurring your vision, and ruining your sense of smell are really not conducive to surviving an encounter with a big cat.

I mean, you might piss it off if you sneeze on it, I guess. Yay?

[jccooper]

It's an environmental allergy, not an emergency one. If you notice you feel like crap in a certain place (because cats like to lurk there), and subsequently avoid it, that's a win.

Not that I necessarily believe that's a good explanation for allergies, but it's plausible enough to think about.

[chaosfactor]

Costs vs benefits.